


Finding Strelitzia

by lonely_no_more



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/F, Other, Post-Kingdom Hearts III
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 23:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17928161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lonely_no_more/pseuds/lonely_no_more
Summary: There was a bright light that blocked out all of their senses for a brief moment until, slowly, they returned one by one. For Strelitzia, it started with sound- birds chirping, faint snatches of conversation from people talking and the sound of her own breathing. Then, smell- the petrichor coming off of the grass, the scent of pastries wafting through the air. Her sight was the last to return and it was flooded with color. The soft pink-orange of sunset painted everything around them; as she looked up at Elrena, it was like she felt her heart stop all over again- the beautiful blonde of her hair was lit up like fire and she could see a faint ring of gold around Elrena's pupils that she hadn't seemed to notice in the corridors of darkness.





	Finding Strelitzia

Strelitzia was just floating by in the darkness- not quite given in but not quite who she used to be. She couldn’t help but hold out for that little glimmer of hope, the one that told her  _ they'd _ find her someday. She saw countless things as she wandered the corridors of darkness- mostly Heartless. The run-of-the-mill Shadows, typically.   
  
Usually she’d turn and run the other way if it was anything bigger. But then she saw it- the Behemoth- standing straight in her path. It had already seen her, seen what little light she had left. Her heart started to sink, wondering if this was finally it. She took a step back and saw it take a step forward- it intended to come after her.   
  
And when it raised one massive foot in the air, ready to bring it down on her, the monster’s attention was caught by a flash of bright yellow light- one that she hoped could only mean one thing. Her heart was pounding harder against her chest. The name was on the tip of her tongue when the flash of light was suddenly in front of her and a pair of leather-clad arms scooped her up. She raised her head, looking up at her rescuer, their face shrouded in shadows because their hood was pulled up. Softly, hesitantly, she whispered, “Elrena?”   
  
Although Strelitzia couldn’t so much see it, she could almost hear the smile as her rescuer responded, “Hey. I was wondering if you’d recognize me.” That alone gave her the courage to reach up and gently push the hood back, revealing the familiar face of her friend. Elrena was smiling faintly, a softness in her eyes that Strelitzia had never seen before. “Let’s get you outta here, huh?”   
  
“Elrena, c'mon, let’s get going!” a voice called out. Not too far away, another familiar figure was standing next to a door of light.   
  
“ _ Lauriam _ !” Strelitzia gasped, beaming at the sight of her brother. Tears were starting to well in her eyes. More to herself than Elrena, the redhead whispered, “I knew you would come for me. I just knew it.”   
  
“Of course we did,” Elrena reassured her. She added, “Hang on tight, ok?” When she was sure that Strelitzia wouldn’t lose her grip, she bolted over to the door of light and walked through. 

There was a bright light that blocked out all of their senses for a brief moment until, slowly, they returned one by one. For Strelitzia, it started with sound- birds chirping, faint snatches of conversation from people talking and the sound of her own breathing. Then, smell- the petrichor coming off of the grass, the scent of pastries wafting through the air. Her sight was the last to return and it was flooded with color. The soft pink-orange of sunset painted everything around them; as she looked up at Elrena, it was like she felt her heart stop all over again- the beautiful blonde of her hair was lit up like fire and she could see a faint ring of gold around Elrena's pupils that she hadn't seemed to notice in the corridors of darkness.    
  
After a moment, she found herself being gently set on her own two feet again. Her legs shook faintly and she found herself clinging to Elrena until the shaking stopped. “Wow...I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I actually used my physical body. Everything is different in the darkness…”

Lauriam approached, resting a hand on his sister's shoulder. “It is. But you're back now. So, everything is ok.”

“Yeah!” Strelitzia chimed, smiling up at him. She laughed, adding, “Wow, you've gotten tall. I must've missed out on a lot.” She noticed the faint ring of gold around his pupils as well, wondering what it meant. Their eyes had never looked like that before… 

His expression wavered briefly, going from happiness to something akin to pain. “Yeah…a lot happened.” Lauriam's smile returned and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “How about we celebrate now that you're back? We'll grab some food and go back to our place so we can all catch up!”

“Ugh, thank God. I'm starving,” Elrena muttered. She went to shove her hands in her pockets until Strelitzia reached out and took one, lacing their fingers together. “O-oh,” was all she could manage.

Strelitzia offered her a satisfied grin as they started to walk. After a few moments, she paused, looked around, and questioned, “Uh… where are we, by the way?”

“Twilight Town,” Elrena supplied. “We haven't been able to locate any traces of Daybreak Town, so we've settled here for now. We're relatively familiar with this place, so it kinda seemed like a no-brainer.” 

“Oh…” she murmured. Eventually, they stopped at a fast food place so that Lauriam could order something to eat for all of them. She took the moment to look at Elrena and study her features again. Her cheeks flushed when the other girl turned and caught her looking. “S-sorry. It's just been so long...it's...good to see your face again,” she said lamely. 

One of Elrena's brows shot up and a smirk started to curl her lips. “Oh yeah?” She laughed; the sound was exactly as Strelitzia remembered it- light and girlish, more like a giggle, really. 

As Lauriam returned, his arms laden with a couple bags worth of food, he said, “Ok, time to go home so we can chill out and eat.”

“I can't remember the last time I ate anything,” Strelitzia admitted. Her stomach growled, almost as if it were agreeing with her. She whined, “I'm so hungry.”

“Thankfully, we just live a couple blocks from here, so it won't take us long,” her brother promised. True to his word, they were back at their little townhouse within ten minutes of walking. It was a neat little place- Strelitzia suspected that her brother had something to do with the general orderliness of things. As soon as she walked in, she was standing in the living room that flowed right into the kitchen as well. “Bedrooms are upstairs. There's only two though. I can sleep on the couch until we find a better place.” 

“Oh, Lauriam, I'd never ask you to do that. I can sleep on the couch,” the little redhead replied. 

Elrena offered, “You could share my room, if you want. I've got the bigger bedroom anyway…” Her cheeks were slightly pink, eyes averted. 

At that, Strelitzia lit up. “May I? Oh, thank you, Rena!” She threw her arms around the blonde, head resting above her heart. 

“W-when did you start calling me  _ Rena _ ? When did that become a thing?” Her attention was caught by Lauriam bursting into laughter. “What's so funny?”

“Your face!” As he kicked off his shoes, he added, “You look so embarrassed by a little nickname.”

“Y'know what, bite-” she paused, cheeks flushing bright red. “Nevermind, just shut up.” Elrena gently patted Strelitzia’s back before pulling away. “C'mon, you were just whining about being hungry. Let's eat.” 

Strelitzia blushed faintly and mumbled, “Ok, so maybe let's not go so far as to call it whining…”

“It was whining,” Lauriam agreed. “But after its been so long since you've eaten, we understand. Now, get over here.” He was busy setting out plates while Strelitzia and Elrena got onto the stools on the other side of the peninsula that separated the kitchen from the living room. “Hey, Elrena, what do you want to drink?”

“Do we have any soda left?”

He glanced over his shoulder at her, one brow raised. “...you really want soda when we have beer and wine available?”

“I-” she huffed, “I'd like to be sober and enjoy Strelitzia’s first night back with us.”

At that, his gaze softened and he nodded, getting three cans out of the fridge. “Good point. The wine and beer can wait for another day.” Handing over the soda, he sat down on his own stool and started to pass out food. 

“Jeez, you guys are old enough to drink now?” Strelitzia gasped. 

“So are you,” Elrena pointed out. 

Her eyes got wide at that and for a moment, Strelitzia sat in stunned silence. “Whoa…” She brightened and exclaimed, “Maybe we can all drink together tomorrow night or something! I’ve never gotten drunk before. It’ll be fun with you guys.” 

“So long as  _ Mister Literal _ over here doesn’t get any brilliant ideas, we’ll be fine…” the blonde grumbled. 

To his credit, Lauriam’s cheeks got slightly red and he coughed, covering it with his hand. “You know I’m a very literal drunk, so that one was  _ your _ fault.”

Strelitzia looked between the two of them and muttered, “There’s a story here…” 

Elrena started to blush and growled, “Do you wanna tell this story or should I, since I can leave out the dramatic pauses?” 

“The dramatic pauses make the story better,” he defended. “But I can tell this.” He cleared his throat and started, “Ok, so, we had spent the day looking for you and when it proved to be fruitless, we came home and drank a little to try and relax. And we were just talking, you know, shooting the breeze so to speak...and I teased her by saying, uh...well, I can’t remember off the top of my head.” Lauriam took a sip of his soda before continuing, “And that’s when  _ she _ fucked up.”  

“Oh, yeah, blame it on me,” she huffed. 

“You know I’m a literal drunk, you should’ve kept that in mind,” he shot back. Turning back to his sister, Lauriam stated, “Elrena said, ‘ _ Bite me _ .’ So…”

Strelitzia’s eyes bugged out and she gasped, “Oh my God, you actually  _ bit her _ ?!” 

He shrugged. “Hey, I told her I was a literal drunk. I gave her a warning.” 

Elrena’s cheeks were still awfully red and she hissed, “That was embarrassing! I couldn’t wear a tanktop for days until the bruise faded!” She ran a hand over her face when Strelitzia started to laugh hard enough to warrant tears. “It was awful…”

“I'm s-sorry, Rena,” the little redhead managed to reply between giggles. Even though it was funny, she was admittedly a little relieved that Elrena was so outraged by it. Maybe that meant that she really wasn't interested in anyone else…

The trio continued to eat and make small talk, mostly discussing Elrena and Lauriam's adventures while searching for Strelitzia. As they noticed it was getting dark outside, Strelitzia began to grow quieter, her eyes darting towards the window with obvious anxiety. After a little more time, she asked slowly, “May I ask you guys a big favor?”

“Of course,” Elrena reassured her instantly. 

Lauriam nodded and agreed, “Whatever you needed, Litz.” 

“Can...can the three of us have, like, a sleepover down here in the living room?” Eyeing the window warily, Strelitzia admitted, “I don’t want to sleep in the dark. And...I want to stay with both of you.” 

Looking at one another, there seemed to be a wordless agreement between Elrena and Lauriam as they nodded. Slowly- hesitantly, really- Elrena reached over and put her hand over Strelitzia’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “A sleepover sounds great.” She offered a small smile as the redhead hugged her arm, resting her head on Elrena’s shoulder. “We’ll get everything all set up and watch movies or something until we all pass out.” 

“Sounds good to me,” Lauriam said. “I’ll start getting blankets and pillows and stuff. You guys can go get changed and meet me back down here.” He got to his feet and started cleaning away their dishes while Elrena led the way upstairs to her bedroom. “I dunno if I have anything that will fit you…” Elrena murmured slowly. She started looking through her dresser, digging through the clothes. 

After a minute, Strelitzia suggested, “I could probably fit into one of your button-ups...I could wear it like a nightgown.” 

Elrena paused, shoulders tensing briefly at the mental image and the way it made her heart race. “Oh. R-right.” She handed her a pair of shorts and explained, “To wear under the shirt, y’know.” 

Strelitzia nodded, holding the shorts while Elrena got a button-up out of her closet. She accepted it gratefully but managed to catch Elrena by the sleeve before she could leave the room. “Thank you, Elrena,” she whispered softly, looking up at her in the faint light of the moonlight that poured in through the window. “Really.”

“Of course,” Elrena responded, her voice equally soft. It was almost as if she were afraid to raise her voice any higher. After a moment of staring at one another for just a moment too long, Elrena left the room to change into her own pajamas, knowing that her thoughts were going way too far, way too fast. It wasn’t like it used to be- it had been so long since they’d even seen one another that Elrena couldn’t fathom wanting to be  _ closer _ . 

As they reconvened in the living room and settled in on the mass of pillows and blankets that Lauriam had collected, Strelitzia and Elrena went through the movies that they could watch. It was while they were watching their first movie that Strelitzia silently decided to ask about the odd gold ring in their eyes tomorrow. For the moment, sitting between Elrena and Lauriam with her head on Elrena’s shoulder, able to hear the strong heartbeat in her chest, Strelitzia was content. 


End file.
